Feds: I-20 favored route for drug traffickers

"It's a major drug pipeline," said Chuvalo J. Truesdell, a federal Drug Enforcement Administration special agent and spokesman, of the interstate that stretches from Texas to South Carolina. "You just happen to be a little far down the end of (Interstate 20) but still you're accessible."

Each month, there are up to two drug seizures - mainly cocaine, methamphetamine or marijuana - on I-20 in the Augusta area large enough to involve the federal agency, Truesdell said.

Lt. Todd Dent of the Taliaferro County Sheriff's Office, says at any given time it's not hard to find someone transporting drugs on the highway.

"I promise you, 24/7, it's never stopping," he said.

Dent said he sees drugs and drug money being transported on the interstate frequently, with some motorists serving as "mules" to take drugs to a drop-off spot and others carrying the drugs back home for their own use.

"I've stopped college professors. I've stopped teachers, preachers," Dent said. "You'd be amazed who's out there trying to get extra money or living a second life."

Authorities say many of the drugs coming through Augusta are associated with Atlanta.

Atlanta was on a list of 27 top drug trafficking markets in the nation, according to an analysis by the Department of Justice's National Drug Intelligence Center.